TeamQuest raises money and awareness for the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).

IDA volunteers and staff work in partnership serving children and adults with dyslexia and all who struggle to read… because reading changes lives. The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is an international organization that concerns itself with the complex issues of dyslexia. We believe that all individuals have the right to achieve their potential, that individual learning abilities can be strengthened and that social, educational and cultural barriers to language acquisition and use must be removed.

IDA actively promotes effective teaching approaches and related clinical educational intervention strategies for individuals with dyslexia. We support and encourage interdisciplinary research. We facilitate the exploration of the causes and early identification of dyslexia and are committed to the responsible and wide dissemination of research based knowledge.

Many team members have a direct connection to dyslexia, but we also have many athletes who join us because they want to support an outstanding organization working to improve the lives of children and adults with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.

TeamQuest members pay an initial registration fee of $100. This fee helps cover a portion of the administrative costs of the program and helps us maintain our ability to direct close to 90% of total revenue to support IDA programs and services. TeamQuest members receive benefits such as fundraising assistance, free training materials and programs, promotional materials, team jerseys and other amenities.

This practice of paying a fee to join the charity team is now standard across charities and assures that funds raised are going to fund mission programs, and not to administrative or other non-mission related costs.

IDA volunteers and staff work in partnership serving children and adults with dyslexia and all who struggle to read… because reading changes lives. The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is an international organization that concerns itself with the complex issues of dyslexia. We believe that all individuals have the right to achieve their potential, that individual learning abilities can be strengthened and that social, educational and cultural barriers to language acquisition and use must be removed.

IDA actively promotes effective teaching approaches and related clinical educational intervention strategies for individuals with dyslexia. We support and encourage interdisciplinary research. We facilitate the exploration of the causes and early identification of dyslexia and are committed to the responsible and wide dissemination of research based knowledge.

Fundraising FAQ

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is focused on creating a future for every individual who struggles with dyslexia and other related reading differences that results in a richer, more robust life and the access to tools and resources when they need them. IDA is committed to connecting a global network of researchers, educators, people with dyslexia and their families…until everyone can read. IDA is committed to funding:

accreditation and certification programs that provide classroom teachers across the country with access to reading instruction necessary to help teach a child with dyslexia to read

public awareness that reading is a civil right

critical information and support for families and students

publication of the latest research and best practices related to dyslexia

Have the employee fill out the Matching Gift application from their employer. This is often a form which is submitted online through the company’s website. If the employee has questions, their Human Resources Department can help.

After completing the form, the donor should get a confirmation email or letter. Just forward that confirmation to teamquest@interdys.org or fax to 410-321-5069. Once we receive the confirmation, we will immediately add the match as an offline donation to the fundraiser’s campaign.

Cash donations should be converted to check form, since cash should not be sent directly in the mail. If a donor gives you cash, simply deposit it into your bank account and send us a check from your account following the directions above. Include with your check a short note that tells us the name and address of the donor so that we can send the thank you note documenting the tax deductible contribution to that donor.

Please note that donors who pay by check will receive a thank you letter documenting the tax deductible contribution for any donation of $100 or more. For contributions of less than $100, the donor may use their cancelled check as their receipt for tax purposes.

Be sure to include the name of the event and the team member’s name on the check’s memo line so that your donation will be recorded correctly. For Example: John Smith, [Event City] Marathon.

Please note that all donors who pay by check will always receive a thank you notification documenting the tax deductible contribution.

Cash donations should be converted to check form, since cash should not be sent directly in the mail. If a donor gives you cash, simply deposit it to your bank account and send a check from your account following the directions above. Include with your check a short note that tells us the name and address of the donor so that we can provide the thank you note documenting the tax deductible contribution to that donor.

IMPORTANT! Your Responsibility: Please add the check and cash donation amounts to your online personal fundraising page by following the instructions in the next FAQ. Adding the donations that you receive offline to your online fundraising page will allow a grand tally of all your donations to appear on your fundraising page.

Note: We will assume that all checks sent to the IDA have already been added to your donation page by you when we receive them.

All U.S. donations are tax deductible. Your online donors will receive a confirmation of their donation automatically shortly after making the contribution. This confirmation can be used as a tax receipt. Donors who send checks will receive a thank you letter documenting the tax deductible contribution for any donation.

Simply log in to your TeamQuest account, and click on the “Send Emails” button. There, you can enter all the email addresses you wish to contact. Those email addresses are automatically stored in your account’s database, so when you are ready to write to the same group again, those names and email addresses are already in your address book. Write a short message on the TeamQuest message form and hit “send”.

You do not need to use the TeamQuest email tool if you do not want to. If you would rather, you can send the link to your fundraising page from your regular email account. Just be sure to know that some email servers limit the number of recipients you can include per email, so you may have to send your message out in batches of 25 recipients. Be sure to include the link to your fundraising page in the body of your email that you send out to your prospective supporters

When you sign up for TeamQuest you will automatically receive a personal fundraising webpage that includes the most significant information about IDA and our mission. Think of this standardized page as a starting point that you can add to. The best pages are personalized as outlined below. At a minimum, this standard page will provide your supporters with information about IDA. For the best, most effective donation campaign, make sure your page follows these guidelines:

Write a message that tells people WHY you are participating in this event.

Tell your supporters about HOW you are connected to dyslexia or other reading difficulties.

Explain how much participating in this event means to YOU and how their support is so important to you.

Include a picture or video of yourself or of the person you are honoring. This is usually available in the dropdown menu where you can upload photos. If not, email teamquest@interdys.org and we will get you what you need.

Share the message about how much the International Dyslexia Association is doing to help people with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.

We want to make this easy for you. We don’t want you to spend lots of time if you are having trouble setting up your page or uploading a photo. If you run into trouble, contact TeamQuest by emailing teamquest@interdys.org

Although your personal fundraising page already contains basic information about IDA and your chosen event, the most successful fundraising pages are ones that have been personalized with a photo and your own reasons for participating. To personalize your donation page, simply log into your Participant Center and choose what you would like to do next. You can:

Customize your personal page with a story about why you are raising funds

The fastest, easiest way to launch your TeamQuest fundraising campaign is to direct your friends and family to your personal fundraising page that was automatically created when you registered to join TeamQuest. Online donations utilizing this secure donation page will be immediately credited toward your fundraising goal.

A good fundraising page, a healthy email list, several follow up emails, and communication of ongoing progress all contribute to an easy and successful fundraising campaign.

We strongly encourage you to use the online system for collecting donations whenever possible. It makes your job of fundraising much easier!

We will provide you with lots of other fundraising ideas and tips along the way. These campaigns work because they are built on donations of $25, $50 and $100. Even in these challenging financial times, you can meet and exceed your goals when you follow our suggestions.

TeamQuest members agree to a Fundraising minimum of your choosing upon registering for each event.

Bronze Level – $2,200

Silver Level – $2,800

Gold Level – $4,000

TeamQuest members agree to a Fundraising minimum of $2,800. The vast majority of our team members will reach this fundraising minimum with our guidance and support. Many will actually exceed that minimum.

TeamQuest is a fundraising effort for the International Dyslexia Association. When you join TeamQuest, you are making a commitment to help improve the lives of children and adults dealing with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.

TeamQuest has a limited number of guaranteed entries for most of our events and pays a significant fee to the event for those ‘bibs’. We offer access to these guaranteed entries with the understanding that the team member will raise the minimum funds and in this way are able to reach our annual fundraising goals for IDA’s TeamQuest program.

TeamQuest provides you with training and fundraising tools, a team experience, team apparel and other amenities. We are looking for team members who are willing to work hard and do their part to reach their fundraising goal and beyond.

We work with our team members to reach these “minimums’ and beyond. You can be confident that if you follow our advice and strategies, you will not have to pay any money out of pocket to meet your fundraising minimum.

Training FAQ

Support a Run allows anyone to join in the TeamQuest fundraising program without actually running in the event. Here’s how it works: register online by clicking on the “Support a Run” button for the event that you would like to support. You are only required to pay an initial $25 registration fee and are not required to meet the $2,200 fund raising minimum. If, as a Support a Run participant, you meet one of the fundraising minimum levels by the fundraising deadline date, you will be invited to travel to the event site with the team to experience all of the pre and post event activities and celebrations.

Support a Run makes it possible for anyone to support TeamQuest, regardless of whether or not you want to run in a more local or shorter distance event, or even if you want to show your support by doing something other than running. When you sign up to Support a Run for TeamQuest you will automatically receive a TeamQuest personal donation webpage that includes the most significant information about IDA and our mission. Think of this standardized page as a starting point that you can edit, personalize, and share in order to raise funds for IDA. The best pages are personalized as outlined below. At a minimum, this standard page will provide your supporters with information about you and IDA. For the best, most effective donation campaign, make sure your page follows these guidelines:

Write a message that tells people WHY you are supporting TeamQuest and what you are doing to show your support for the event.

Tell your supporters about HOW you are connected to dyslexia or other reading difficulties.

Explain how much supporting this event and IDA means to YOU and how their support is so important.

Include a picture or video of yourself or of the person you are honoring.

Share the message about how much the International Dyslexia Association is doing to help people with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.

TeamQuest will provide expert coaching including weekly group runs or training in many of our major markets. Team members can meet each other and get ready for race day.

Because our team members live all over the world, we will not be able to offer face to face coaching and training to all participants. We will provide access to IDA TeamQuest Training Community online training and coaching along with access to IDA TeamQuest mobile app to interested participants.